Judge dismisses Melania Trump's lawsuit against Daily Mail

ROCKVILLE, Md. - A Maryland judge has dismissed first lady Melania Trump's libel lawsuit against Britain's Daily Mail newspaper over an article that contained insinuations that she had worked as an escort.

Court records show that Montgomery County Circuit Judge Sharon Burrell ruled Thursday to dismiss the suit against Mail Media Inc., the corporation that publishes the Daily Mail's website. The Daily Mail's argument centered on whether the lawsuit should have been filed in Maryland and whether Trump was suing the correct corporate entity.

Trump also has filed a lawsuit against the paper in London.

The first lady's libel suit against blogger Webster Tarpley of Gaithersburg for reporting the escort rumors was allowed to move ahead last week.

She filed the lawsuit in Rockville in September, after both Tarpley and the Daily Mail issued retractions.